Aylesbury trainer Richard Didham is licking his lips as winter racing draws closer.
While many Kiwis are dreading the cold and wet months ahead, he said a couple of his runners would thrive on the more forgiving footing, including Candle and Speed Dial, who head to Wingatui today in search of a rain-affected track.
Initially planning on starting the pair closer to home at Riccarton on Saturday, Didham changed tack when he looked at the weather forecast, which predicted clear skies in Christchurch in the days before Riccarton’s Anzac Day meeting, while rain was expected yesterday and into today further south.
Didham duly changed course and he is particularly looking forward to lining up five-win mare Candle in the rating 75 Otago Painting Solutions (1200m) after she was beaten by the barest of margins at Ashburton last week.
"She was massive in defeat last start. I thought she actually got the bob," Didham said.
She ran second behind a pretty nice horse in Champagne Diblu.
"She has won on a heavy track before and that is why we have opted to have another go at Wingatui because there wasn’t much rain in the forecast for Riccarton."
Candle will jump from barrier 2 and will carry 59kg with the utilisation of apprentice jockey Alan Lai’s 2kg claim.
"She gets back a wee bit but it is a small field so she shouldn’t have too much traffic troubles," Didham said.
Lai will also ride stablemate Speed Dial in the open Otago Engineering 1500, and Diham said the 5-year-old mare would also thrive on the rain-affected footing.
"She won on a heavy10 at Oamaru last year and then she won on a soft7 at Kumara," he said.
"It is an open handicap, but the top rater is only rated 80, so she gets in really well, and with the claim she is down to 52kg."
While looking forward to racing both of his Wingatui contenders into winter, Didham is also looking forward to welcoming back Red Star Rhonda before her 4-year-old term.
While the daughter of Super Easy remains a maiden after seven starts, she has made a big impression on Didham, who crossed Cook Strait with her last month to contest the group 3 Manawatu Classic (2100m) at Trentham.
While she disappointed when beating just one other runner home, Didham said she would benefit from time in the paddock and he was looking forward to seeing what she could do in the spring.
"She disappointed up there [Trentham], but she is just spelling at the moment, and she will come back a really strong 4-year-old by the time she is ready to go," he said. — LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
By Joshua Smith
